September 18, 2024
I don’t know if the Rams are legit, but they sure looked pretty good against the 49ers yesterday. I mean the 49ers are supposed to be this all-world, nobody can beat them, greatest team of all-time according to the media. So this has to be a pretty good measuring stick. They were in the game up until the end, and might have even won were it not for Kyren Williams taking his eye off a pass that led to an interception. Matt Stafford has only been sacked once in two games, and Puca Nakua is producing like he’s Jerry Rice out there. Then there’s the weird Cam Akers situation, where it suddenly appears he’s done with the Rams. Sean McVay and Akers are talking to each other through the media like an old married couple that is on the verge of a divorce after the 1,000th fight. Meanwhile, Kyren Williams has taken over the starting job, and sounds like the new girlfriend waiting in the wings, talking like the ink on the divorce papers is already dry. I don’t really see how there is a market for Cam Akers at this point, but also don’t think he has much of a future with the Rams. Nevertheless, will be interesting to see how this one plays out.
I am running out of things to say about the Chargers faltering in the clutch against teams they should beat. Maybe I should just start copying and pasting the same content about them every week and it should work just fine? Once again, they blew a double digit lead, took some very undisciplined penalties, and couldn’t make the clutch plays in overtime when they needed to. This continues to be a Brandon Staley problem, but we all know about that by now. If the Bolts can’t beat the Vikings and Raiders, they might as well pack it in because the schedule is going to get a heck of a lot tougher after that with the Cowboys and Chiefs looming. They are the Chargers for a reason. They also are getting exactly what they are paying for in coaching.
Elsewhere around the NFL, Joe Burrow has turned into Andy Dalton after signing his extension, and the Bengals are now 0-2 after losing to the Ravens. The Cowboys are having way more success right now than their fans are probably used to. Tyreek Hill looks like he’s playing against little children out there as the Dolphins beat up the Patriots. Gotta feel bad for Aaron Rodgers and the Jets, especially after seeing Zach Wilson, but hope he’s able to have a speedy recovery, and sounds like he’s determined too.
To College Football where UCLA looked pretty good against North Carolina Central over the weekend, and Dante Moore continues to look like a star. Things are going to get real for the Bruins now when they play Washington State next week, followed by Oregon State. Chip Kelly still doesn’t want to publicly commit to Moore, which is idiotic. We all know he is the guy, and all Kelly can say is “we should probably get him more reps”. I know it’s probably easy to say the Bruins haven’t played anybody yet, but keep in mind that they started the same way last season and ended up being a good team despite their expectations. Their defense also looks legit, holding opponents to under 20 points in all 3 games, and Moore is getting better with every snap he takes. Show us what you’ve got next week Chip, and then we can talk.
USC had a bye week, but they’ll take on ASU next week in Tempe. The Trojans are still ranked at #5 in the AP Poll, but there’s two things that should be concerning to them. The first is the fact they are the most penalized team in the PAC-12. That’s always killed them, even dating back to the Clay Helton era. Then there’s the schedule. The PAC-12 is a gauntlet with 8 ranked teams. They might be able to afford one-loss, but two? Forget about the College Football Playoff.
Look, I think what Deion Sanders is doing at Colorado is awesome. However, the hype machine has gone way too overboard at this point. They barely beat Colorado State. The game was exciting, but at best, they are probably an upstart fringe Top 25 team. They certainly keep it interesting, but the coverage around them is insane. The star power though is also insane, given that Deion made $1.2 million with Blenders Eyewear in one day, after Colorado State Head Coach Jay Norvell criticized him for wearing shades all the time. That’s the ultimate troll!
To baseball, where the Dodgers clinched the division title over the weekend by sweeping the Marlins. They have now won the NL West 10 out of 11 years. Before you start saying we only care about the championships (and yes that’s true), keep in mind that everybody picked the Padres to win the division. Meanwhile, the Padres won’t even make the playoffs, and will be searching for answers on their Cancun vacations in the next couple of weeks. The fact the Dodgers did this by plugging more kids into their lineup and into their rotation speaks to just how good their player development is. The pitching going into the postseason is obviously still a concern, including Clayton Kershaw’s drop in velocity, but there’s still a few weeks to try and figure this out before it’s show time in October.
Why do the Angels manage everything so poorly? Shohei Othani is getting shut down for the season, the Halos said nothing for a while, making it look like he cleaned out his locker because he was done with the team. They also kept Anthony Rendon’s injury a total secret, rather than saying he fractured his tibia. Rendon probably wouldn’t have continued to make himself look like a douchebag anyway, but still poorly handled. I also have no idea why Mike Trout wants to put himself back in the lineup for the last two weeks of the season. That just feels like more of a health risk for him, especially if he’s going to be traded.